Downtown Downfall
by kurgaya
Summary: IchiHitsu - What happens when two inner worlds collide? When one starts to destroy another? Nobody knows, for isn't it impossible? It's just a shame that lovers Ichigo and Toshiro are about to find out otherwise. Warning: death.


**An important note to all people who've already read the first version of this: **As I said, I have edited the end of this story and I'm sorry for deleting the damn thing and uploading again. So would it be too much to ask for you to re-add it to your favourites, if it was already on there? Thank you and, to save you time, the edited part is near the end (after the mountain bit) and is marked with an **(E)**.

75 more words and I would've hit 10,000! I'm so proud!

* * *

This is it, I'm shaking.  
My body's aching,  
I lose my hold,  
I will let go.  
This is it, I'm falling.  
My wings need to grow.  
I lose my hold,  
I will let go.

~Lose it (Atreyu)

* * *

"Tōshirō, if you want to go out into the snow just ask."

Tōshirō, who had been previously sitting so close to the living room window that his icy breath had frosted it up, turned to face Ichigo as the taller sat down on the sofa, careful not to spill any of the steaming hot chocolate in his hands. It was early December and the good five inches of snow had been falling all weekend and it was so with hope that the taicho of the tenth division gazed out at the winter wonderland from inside the cosy room (that was Ichigo's apartment), utterly captivated with the truck loads of his element that had fallen from the sky.

It always looked so pretty when he wasn't using it to kill people…

Ichigo chuckled at his lover's childish expression and took a long gulp of the hot chocolate, swearing when it burnt his tongue. "I'll come out with you if you want," he gasped, panting like a dog and looking like a fool. "We could build a snowman."

"A snowman?" Tōshirō repeated, though not in quite the playful tone as Ichigo had used.

"Yeah," said Ichigo, and he put down the mug so he would stop burning his mouth with the liquid. "Or have a snowball fight or something."

"Ichigo…" Tōshirō said slowly. "Do you know what you're getting yourself into?"

The orange head laughed. "Tōshirō, I knew what I was getting into four years ago when we got together, I'm not an idiot."

"Could've fooled me," was the instant reply and Ichigo just grinned like a madman. Tōshirō smiled too and turned to look back out of the window. "Alright," he said, after a moment's thought. "I'll go and get my coat." He then got up, shaking his head, but much to Ichigo's delight he was still smiling.

Ichigo cheered inside and after verbally telling his hot chocolate to cool down, joined him by the front door. By that time Tōshirō already had his coat done up and was now slipping on his shoes. He didn't have to wear a coat or scarf or boots because he didn't get as cold as anybody else, but he had learnt he might as well, if just to keep Ichigo at peace and to stop him from later fretting over him like a mother. Sometimes Tōshirō 'forgot' to put on his coat just so that Ichigo fretted over him because he found there was something absolutely adorable about the taller teen worrying over him; that, and also the fact that his heart always seemed to flutter pleasantly when he realized there was somebody who cared enough to worry about him.

The soul pager in Tōshirō's pocket went off at that moment and Ichigo frowned as the other fished it out. "Hollow?" he asked. Tōshirō nodded. "Ah just let the guys on patrol handle it."

Tōshirō frowned also. "No Ichigo, we might as well get rid of them. It'll be quicker."

Ichigo grumbled something rude but found his soul candy. "Fine, fine." He popped it into his mouth and seconds later he felt the strange sensation of being separated from his body, quickly followed by the low 'thud' sound his head created when it hit the hallway carpet.

"You should really be more careful," Tōshirō said, shifting Hyorinmaru on his back as his gigai zipped around him and hoisted Ichigo's empty body over its shoulder. Ichigo only stared at the weird sight of Tōshirō – no wait, his gigai – carrying his body through the apartment for a few seconds before the front door burst open and Tōshirō disappeared in a flash into the snow. Ichigo smiled and tore his eyes away from his lover's gigai, and, suddenly feeling like playing a game of tag, raced out after him.

There were only four small Hollow when they arrived in the park and the cold weather had thankfully persuaded people to stay inside their homes. No words were said between them as both the shinigami unleashed their shikais and charged head on at the Hollow, the screeching in the air a clear sign that the Hollow now knew of their presence. It was over within two minutes (that last Hollow really ticked Ichigo off) and with a swing of Hyorinmaru Tōshirō sighed and watched the last soul disappear.

"Boring," Ichigo called from across the field, having already sheathed Zangetsu back onto his back. He stood with his hands on his hips as his chocolate eyes scanned the battlefield; there was no evidence that the previous slaughter had taken place. "Sometimes I wonder why I signed up for this shit."

"Cause Rukia Kuchiki practically forced you to?" came the blunt reply. "But really Ichigo, lighten up. Neither of us are hurt and –" He was cut off as an invisible force rammed into him and Ichigo cried out in fear and surprise as Tōshirō skidded backwards and tumbled onto his back. There was no hesitation in his actions as Ichigo drew Zangetsu again and shunpoed directly in front of his partner; sword raised; feet steady; eyes and ears alert. "Fucker! Come out so I can fight you!"

The Hollow said nothing; made no sound at all, and the calm winter day returned like the snow softly falling from the sky. Honestly it was so peaceful that Ichigo wondered if the creature was even there. He took a deep breath and prepared himself, waiting, waiting, but finally when he had waited enough he looked over his shoulder.

Tōshirō spat a load of yellow sticky liquid out of his mouth, the rest of his clothing already covered in it. "Disgusting," he complained, and he got to his feet and scooped up Hyorinmaru from the ground. He saw brown eyes glance at him frantically and Tōshirō shook his head. "I'm ok," he assured. He was not hurt, no, but he was now covered head to toe in a gooey substance that Tōshirō did not want to know what part of the Hollow's body it came from. Ichigo looked him over once – twice – before nodding.

"Stupid quiet Hollow," he mumbled. "Can't even till if it's still here…"

"It might be," said Tōshirō, though it was the blunt truth if he said that he couldn't even sense the damn thing. However, deciding he would rather be cautious, he tapped the sharp tip of Hyorinmaru down onto the grass once.

Ice expanded outwards.

Ichigo was already shunpoing forwards when the Hollow came into view and leapt sideways to avoid Hyorinmaru's ice, and he swung Zangetsu downwards. Yet he only caught the tip of a horn with his blade and swore loudly. The Hollow laughed, his sickly yellow tongue flapping about in the air and landed safely on an untouched piece of ground and cried, "Sticky!"

Ichigo wondered if maybe this Hollow wasn't quite right in the head, as he charged forwards again, but it turned out the monstrous black creature lived up to its word and made a low retching noise as Ichigo approached before throwing up all over the shinigami.

Ichigo yelled out and jumped backwards and the Hollow laughed at him. "You disgusting freak!" the orange head shouted, shaking his head to get some of the yellow goo out of his hair. Ah well, at least Tōshirō knew where the stuff had come from now.

"Reign over the frozen skies, Hyorinmaru!"

This time the Hollow barely got away, and he just continued to fill the air with his insane laughter as the great ice dragon that erupted from Tōshirō's blade snapped at his heels. Ichigo joined Tōshirō at his side, ducking to avoid more of the Hollow vomit, and raised his zanpakuto.

"Getsuga Tenshou – oh you nifty little bastard…" he added when his attack missed. Tōshirō rolled his eyes at Ichigo's vulgar language and raised Hyorinmaru once again.

"Reign over –"

"Oh just eat the twit Hyorinmaru!" Ichigo yelled instead at the dragon that was already soaring around the skies. Hyorinmaru's piercing ruby eyes stared down at him (_no Hyorinmaru,_ Tōshirō thought, _don't eat that twit_) and then looked down at his master for confirmation.

Tōshirō frowned at him.

The Hollow was as good as dead.

It was just a shame though that when the Hollow did die (screaming in Hyorinmaru's mountain like jaws) it decided to go out with a squelchy bang and exploded, shooting bucket loads of it's foul smelling goo across the park. Ichigo grabbed Tōshirō and raised his reiatsu high, and the dark red force around him acted as a shield and prevented the two of them in being rained on once again.

"Fucking exploding Hollows," mumbled Ichigo, and he dropped his reiatsu when it was safe.

Tōshirō agreed and stood. "I need a shower."

Ichigo looked at him and laughed. It was bad enough that Tōshirō's white haori was now painted yellow and stinking really badly but his hair, oh so long and straight and _matted and thick and sticky and __containing-lots-of-fucking-yellow-fucking-gooey-bloody-stuff_, looked awful. He stood up also and reached out a large hand towards Tōshirō's hair, smiling when the boy was to busy tugging at the end of a spike to notice. "Wow," Ichigo said, and he unsuccessfully ran a hand through the white mass. "It's really – ah shit."

"Get your hand out of my hair Kurosaki."

"Can't. Stuck."

Tōshirō growled, and then hissed when Ichigo tried to get his hand away. "I told you!" Ichigo cried when Tōshirō went to kick him. "It's stuck!"

"Well you didn't have to pull my hair out to prove that! For god's sake, why did you even touch it in the first place…? I'm sorry, what did you say?"

Ichigo blushed and mumbled only slightly louder; "I wanted to see what it felt like. And I like your hair."

Tōshirō rolled his eyes.

* * *

'No you can't join me in the shower' was what Tōshirō had said only five minutes ago with a frown on his face and his foot ready to kick the bathroom door shut in his hopeful face, yet here they were, both of them, a couple minutes later standing in the shower with the warm water trickling down their backs and shampoo bubbles in their eyes. Ichigo ran a hand through Tōshirō's hair, gently sliding out the last of the yellow gunk and smiled at his luck.

"Love you," he whispered merrily, his other hand rubbing circles into Tōshirō's hip.

"Stop laying it on thick," Tōshirō snapped, knowing that Ichigo was grinning behind him. "And if you don't shut up I will kick you for interrupting my shower even when I told you not to."

"Ah but you're secretly glad," Ichigo argued, and he was only proven right when Tōshirō leaned his head back into his chest, both a blush and a scowl on his face. "Shut up," the smaller snapped, and Ichigo chuckled. He kissed the top of Tōshirō's head and wrapped both his arms around his waist, perfectly content in just standing in the water with the other male, for he was able to forget about the looming fears and worries with the world and just focus on the here and now of being with his partner.

"You're so cruel," Ichigo teased, pretending to be hurt.

Tōshirō snorted and reached up to switch the shower off. "Ah but you're secretly glad."

Ichigo smiled and stepped out of the shower, shaking his head like a dog and reaching over for the towel on the radiator. Tōshirō followed in his water based footsteps and caught the towel Ichigo threw him, and then threw it over his head and rubbed his hair dry. Ichigo did the same, though the task didn't take nearly as long, and then wrapped the blue item around his waist.

"Stop checking me out you pervert," Tōshirō said suddenly, knowing without even looking that Ichigo was staring below his waist. Ichigo laughed merrily and tore his eyes away, unlocking the bathroom door and walking door the hall with a happy spring in his step. Tōshirō rolled his eyes and followed him, failing to keep the small smile from forming on his lips.

* * *

"Holy motherfucker…"

Ichigo looked up from the book he was reading, two hours later and hair now completely dry, somewhat dreading finding out what made Tōshirō swear so violently, and thinking that maybe he should just ignore it and return to act four of The Tempest – though, now that he thought about it, he guessed there wasn't much difference between the two. Tōshirō was sitting on the sofa, elbow leaning against the arm rest and legs tucked to the side, and he was gaping openly at the red DS in his hands as if the screen was now flashing the words 'Go fuck yourself'.

"What's up?" he asked, setting the book down in his lap.

Tōshirō did not look over at him, but remained firmly gaping in his seat. "I just lost… so badly…"

Ichigo raised an eyebrow, amusement swimming in his brown eyes. "Oh? What're playing?"

"Pokemon Soul Silver."

Ichigo snorted a laugh and Tōshirō glared at him. "That game's for kids."

"No it's not," Tōshirō defended, and he snapped the screen down in frustration. "And I happen to like it, thank you very much. But if you want you can blame Inoue for getting me into it."

"Whatever you say," said Ichigo, and no evil glare from Tōshirō could wipe the smirk off of his face. "But who'd you lose against?"

Tōshirō scowled and crossed his arms, the DS still hanging loose in his right hand. "Red," he spat. "He absolutely crushed me."

Laughter bubbled up from inside of Ichigo and he let it out willingly, finding the whole situation of his boyfriend pissed off at a game character too good to ignore. "Was he that tough Tōshirō?" he teased. "You better train harder," he added, wiggling a finger in Tōshirō's direction.

Tōshirō gave him a look that told him that he was clearly not amused. "Yes he was that tough. Fuck his level 88 Pikachu…"

Ichigo continued to laugh and picked up his book from his lap, returning his attention to that. "You just gotta try again Tōshirō."

Tōshirō 'hmmpfed' and collapsed back against the back of the sofa, the DS slipping from his hands and crashing to the floor in his annoyance. "Don't take it out on the DS," Ichigo mumbled, though he wasn't paying attention for his mind had wandered back to Shakespeare. Tōshirō said nothing in reply and Ichigo chuckled again, shaking his head.

However it wasn't until Ichigo read to the bottom of the page and was about to turn it over did he realize that Tōshirō had made no sound at all in the last couple of minutes. Something inside of him nagged his brain and he glanced over at his boyfriend, expecting him to still be sulking, but only saw him still leaning back against the back of the sofa, still, unmoving, and with the DS still flashing on the floor at his feet. "Tōshirō…?"

Tōshirō still did not reply, and that nagging feeling inside of him burst out and Ichigo jumped to his feet, grabbing his phone from out of his pocket and dialling Orihime's number as he fell to his knees beside his unconscious boyfriend and grasped the boy's hand.

Heartbeat. That's a good start.

"_Ah, Kurosaki-kun!"_ came Orihime's voice from the other end of the line. _"What can I do for you?"_

Ichigo cut to the chase, his voice thick with worry as he rested a hand on Tōshirō's forehead. It was burning. "Inoue-san, I need you over here immediately, Tōshirō just collapsed…"

There was a gasp from the other end. _"Alright, I'll be over right away!"_

Ichigo thanked her and hung up, throwing his phone carelessly to the floor. He then scooped Tōshirō up into his arms and positioned him on the sofa so that he was lying down, and he dropped to his knees beside him, one of his shaking hands shooting back to the sweating forehead.

"Why didn't you tell me you were ill?" he whispered, though of course, Tōshirō did not reply.

Orihime bustled into the living room only five minutes later, looking like she had just run a mile, and knelt down beside the sofa where Tōshirō was laying. She frowned but got down to work.

"Sōten Kisshun, I reject!"

There was a flash of orange light, a flash of blue, and Orihime screamed as she was thrown backwards across the room. Tōshirō gave a grunt. Ichigo dropped the glass of water he was holding.

"I – Inoue-san!" he blurted out, and he scrambled across the room to where she was picking herself up from the floor.

"Sorry about your TV Kurosaki-kun," she apologised, but Ichigo just shook his head and ignored the cracked screen and the glass scattered across the carpet, and grabbed her hand to pull her to her feet.

"Are you ok?" he asked stupidly.

"Yes, yes, I'm fine."

Ichigo quickly checked her over himself but seeing that she was indeed fine he nodded. "What was that?" he whispered, slightly horrified, and glanced back over to where Tōshirō lay, completely oblivious to what had just occurred.

Orihime shook her head, the frown back in place. "I don't know, but it rejected me."

"Violently," Ichigo added. "What should we do?" he then asked when they made their way back over to the sofa. Wisely, Orihime did not summon her powers again and they just sat on the floor while Tōshirō moaned in his feverish sleep. "Why did it reject you?"

"I don't know," Orihime said again. "How long has Hitsugaya-kun been ill?"

Ichigo shrugged. "He seemed fine earlier when we went out and battled some Hollow, but just before I called you he just, well, collapsed."

Orihime looked just as baffled as he did. "Maybe the Hollow had a special ability or something –"

" – you make it sound like it's something out of Pokemon… or Yu-Gi-Oh – "

" – and it's making him ill?" she finished, though she had giggled at Ichigo's words. However Ichigo just shrugged again. "The only thing different about this Hollow was that it spat yellow gunk everywhere. Though I managed to protect us from most of it by raising my reiatsu as a shield…"

Orihime nodded slowly. "I think we should call Unohana-taicho… And what's Yu-Gi-Oh?"

Ichigo had already gotten to his feet to fetch his phone from wherever he had thrown it earlier. "Oh god," he said, smiling despite the situation, but then erupted into a coughing fit. Orihime watched him for a moment, her eyebrows dropped, but he quickly got over it and shook his hand in dismissal when she opened her mouth to ask if he was ok. "Don't even go there."

Seeing that he was ok, Orihime took his word for it and hummed in agreement. She reached across Tōshirō and placed her hand on his forehead, much like Ichigo had done before; he was still burning up and she bit her bottom lip nervously. What _was_ wrong –

Ichigo crumpled to the floor behind her.

* * *

" - have exactly the same symptoms," Unohana finished. Yamamoto nodded to her from his chair and the rest of the taichos in the meeting began muttering quietly to themselves. Ichigo and Tōshirō had been brought to Soul Society immediately when Orihime Inoue had called up the 4th division in a panic, and the top healer had set down to work in finding out what was wrong with the two shinigami. Orihime had been asked a series of questions by the 4th division's fukutaicho, on behalf of the taicho, but even after all that the only thing Unohana could confirm was that it was probably - _probably_ - the foul substance the Hollow had spat out which was making them ill.

She didn't know what was wrong with them however.

"This yellow substance," Komamura interrupted, and all eyes (and ears) turned to him. "What _is_ it?"

"I cannot say," said Unohana, looking disappointed. "We will have to wait for the test results to come back from the 12th division."

"So you said there's damage to their inner worlds?" Soi Fon asked, somewhat ludicrously. "How can an inanimate object cause damage to the soul?"

"That's impossible, right?" Ukitake asked. "I've never heard of anything that causes harm to the soul."

Unohana sighed. "It's not impossible, but it's very hard to achieve. But yes, their inner worlds are collapsing."

A couple of the taichos winced. "That'll kill them," Kenpachi mumbled, saying the words that none of the taichos wished to say.

"How do we stop it?" Byakuya asked, toneless like normal. "And we'll have to make sure there are no other Hollows with this ability so this does not happen again."

Unohana shook her head. "Again, I do not know. Before we can do anything I must know exactly what the substance has done to them. Their inner worlds being damaged might just be a symptom of something else, I cannot be sure at the - "

The 1st division hall doors opened then and Kurotsuchi Mayuri strode in. He was holding a small flask which contained a sample of the substance the taichos were arguing about and the look on his face was one of victory and pleasure, and this was not a good sight for the rest of the taichos. Kurotsuchi stopped his stride in the middle of the room so that he was standing beside Unohana, and there was a moment of tense silence that greeted the heavy grim atmosphere of the room like an old friend.

Kurotsuchi cleared his throat. "The substance has indeed done damage to their inner worlds," he confirmed. "And it did this by attaching itself to the reiatsu of Kurosaki Ichigo when he raised it to form a shield - it's common knowledge that the reiatsu is connected to the zanpakuto which is then, in turn, connected to the inner world. I do not know, however, how the substance got into Hitsugaya-taicho's inner world - "

"Ichigo-kun and Hitsugaya-kun are lovers," Ukitake added quietly, much to the surprise of pretty much everybody in the room. "Their reiatsus are connected."

Kurotsuchi's grin grew even wider, and he continued. "And so I do conclude that the substance is attacking their inner worlds."

"So it's causing them to collapse?" Kyouraku asked.

"No!" Kurotsuchi exclaimed, and he let out a bleak, vile laugh, waving the flask in the air like a spoilt child asking for attention. "It's welding their inner worlds together and making them destroy each other!"

* * *

It was quiet and he didn't like it. Ichigo knew that his inner world was usually quiet, for only Zangetsu and his Hollow resided there, but from the moment he had woken up to see the sideways skyscrapers and the clouds drifting slowly past he knew, _he knew_, that something was terribly wrong. He didn't know how he knew but as he sat on one of the tinted windows, his legs crossed, the ominous atmosphere settled down on his shoulders and he shivered, wondering why he had never noticed his inner world was so cold before...

"Zangetsu?" he called suddenly. "Old man, you there?"

And still, he received no reply.

Deciding that sitting still was getting him nowhere Ichigo stood and looked around. Everything within his sight range seemed normal but he just couldn't shake the feeling that there wasn't something right about all this. It could be because Zangetsu was not replying to him, and his Hollow self had not appeared to taunt him, but the warmth inside of him was slowly flickering and dying, leaving behind that feeling, the darkness, a shadow.

And it was too _cold_.

He frowned. He should be used to the cold - it was Tōshirō's element after all. But in saying that is _was_ Tōshirō's element and not his, and so surely his inner world should not be as cold as Tōshirō's. Actually, he thought, watching the weather change around him, it shouldn't be snowing either.

Why on earth was it snowing? Rain he could understand, but snow? What emotion was snow?

_Tōshirō's snow_, a part of his brain nagged, and suddenly, as if the fire inside of him had been set alight again, he knew why this cold was so familiar.

Without a second's hesitation he ran up the side of the building towards the black and white clouds that were beginning to spill soft snowflakes across this section of the city, and once he had reached the corner of the skyscraper he stopped, and gazed out over the rest of his inner world.

It was white. As white as the purest snow. As white as Tōshirō's hair. As white as nothingness.

Dear god, he thought, this really isn't right. And for once he was correct. Out on the horizon, as far as Ichigo could see, was a cloud so huge that it covered the sky, and the harsh winds and snow that fell from it swallowed up the city in a journey that Ichigo knew would only end when there was nothing left of his inner world but white.

Nothingness.

Ichigo took a step backwards. How was this storm here? Where did it come from? Why was it here, destroying everything? When was it going to reach him? What was he going to do? Who... Who's reiatsu was that? Said reiatsu had shot up a far distance away, much closer to the storm than he, and it's pale blue light glowed against the appending storm in distress.

Ichigo mentally smacked his forehead. It was Tōshirō's reiatsu -

- it was reaching out for him, he was sure. It flickered and swayed and -

Tōshirō was in trouble.

* * *

"Is there anything we can do?"

Unohana sighed and pulled her hand away from Ichigo's forehead. Despite everything they had done the fever hadn't reduced and it didn't seem either of the two boys would be waking up any time soon. She stepped away from the bed and allowed Kuchiki Rukia to pull her chair closer, the 6th division fukutaicho standing behind her. The healer frowned at her question but decided to give the visitors time alone with the patients.

"No," she said simply as she walked out of the room. "If anything changes, alert someone straight away."

Rukia and Renji both nodded, while Matsumoto, who was sitting beside her taicho's bed gave a verbal response. "Of course..."

* * *

And he was in trouble too. In his haste to find Tōshirō he had completely forgotten about the _appending doom_ - the blizzard - which was virtually impossible because it was snowing really hard and... Oh well, nothing's impossible for Kurosaki Ichigo. And so here he was, shivering and swearing violently, waist deep in snow and stuck.

"Fuck this," said Ichigo, already trying to dig himself out. "This would be so much easier if Tōshirō was here - one swish of Hyorinmaru and this snow would all be gone..."

Hyorinmaru was something else he had been thinking about actually. While jumping from rooftop to rooftop Ichigo had been putting little bits of information together and, so far, he did not like the conclusion he had come up with. His inner world was cold, there was a blizzard on the way, and Tōshirō was here - that was his first concern. What _was_ Tōshirō doing here? _How_ did he get here? This was _his_ inner world! (Not that he was complaining about his lover being in his inner world but - )

Ichigo finally pulled himself out of the snow and shunpoed away. (Ok, maybe it would be better if Tōshirō wasn't here...) "At least then he wouldn't get hurt..." he whispered to himself, and he sped off in the direction Tōshirō's reiatsu had come from.

And the storm was getting closer. He was going to run into it soon and that would be disastrous. But he shouldn't have to enter the blizzard because Tōshirō's reiatsu had not come from inside of it, close, but not inside. That thought brought some peace to Ichigo's mind. If Tōshirō was trapped in the storm then he might never be able to find him.

The howling wind snapped him from his thoughts and he swore loudly, skidding to a stop on one of the windows. The edge of the storm was there,_ right there_.

"Shit I don't remember being so close..." he said, horror taking over his features. He was going to have to turn around. If he didn't... he was going to get caught in the storm.

It was close. Very close. So close, actually, that if he really tried he could probably reach out and touch it...

And then was when an unknown force grabbed him and pulled him through the window he was standing on.

"Ack! What the fu -"

"Ichigo!"

Said shinigami stopped struggling instantly. The pair of arms wrapped around him tightened and Ichigo looked over his shoulder to see teal eyes gazing at him uncertainly. "T - Tōshirō!" he exclaimed, and he spun around in the embrace and hugged his partner. "Oh god Tōshirō..."

Tōshirō smiled and returned the hug, placing his head against Ichigo's chest. "Sorry I scared you," he said. "But the storm was about to get you."

Ichigo just chuckled and nuzzled Tōshirō's white hair. "It's ok. I'm fine. Are you? I felt your reiatsu earlier."

"I'm fine - it... it was just a lot for me to take in..."

Ichigo pulled away from the embrace and looked down at Tōshirō, confused. "What was?"

"Look around you," said the other, and for the first time Ichigo took in his surroundings. They were both knelt on the floor of a small room, a bedroom to be more precise, the brown carpet was soft beneath their feet, and the double window above the bed was shut tight, the snow and wind was raging battle outside. The bed was single and simple, a light blue cover was it's only occupant, and Ichigo gaped, turning his head to take in the rest of the room. The cupboard, the desk, the chest of drawers with the TV on top... This was his room - well, the one at his father's house.

"Of course," he said, shaking his head. "The room's of the skyscrapers hold my memories... Why am I surprised? What memory's this?"

"When you first met Kuchiki Rukia," Tōshirō added helpfully. "I woke up here, in this room, and watched the whole thing play out before me. I must say you and Rukia got on _swimmingly_ right from the start."

Ichigo snorted. "But you're ok?" he asked again. Tōshirō nodded. "Yes Ichigo, I'm ok. Confused, but ok."

Ichigo let go of Tōshirō and led them so that they were sitting on the bed by the window. If it wasn't for the blizzard outside and the fact that the cityscape was sideways, Ichigo really would believe, right now, that he was back in his old room. As soon as they were both settled on the bed Ichigo's arms found their way around his lover's waist again and they sat there for a moment, just listening to the wind battering the window and the slow 'tick' of the clock in his room.

"Any idea what's going on?" Ichigo finally asked.

Tōshirō sighed, and Ichigo almost snorted when he realized that that was a sign that Tōshirō's genius side was about to come out to do the talking. "I have an idea about what's happening," said genius said. "But I don't know why it's happening."

"Hit me then."

Tōshirō rose an eyebrow.

"Not literally," Ichigo added quickly, laughing nervously.

"Right," Tōshirō said, and he continued. "This is your inner world - the city and all the memories. The blizzard and the snow is mine. And they're mixing together. Destroying each other."

"You're joking."

"No, I'm not. Hyorinmaru is not answering my calls and I assume that Zangetsu is not answering yours. The storm is sweeping across your city uncontrolled, and it's going to destroy everything."

"Everything?"

"Everything."

Ichigo swore quietly and held Tōshirō closer. "What can we do to stop it?" he whispered, the gravity of the whole situation dawning on him.

Tōshirō did not reply for a little while. Instead he just chewed his bottom lip nervously and gazed out of the window, watching his own safe haven wreck Ichigo's. "I don't know," he mumbled. "I don't know."

Ichigo almost frowned, but he would not lose hope. "We've got to wake up," he said.

"I've tried," said Tōshirō, shaking his head. "I think the best think for us to do is to wait for the storm to pass and then go looking for answers."

"How long will it take to pass?" questioned Ichigo, having seen the storm he felt that it wasn't going to stop any time soon. "And what exactly will we be looking for?"

Again Tōshirō did not reply, and Ichigo knew, sadly, that it meant he didn't know either.

* * *

The storm took seven hours to pass, and for those seven hours Ichigo did not take his eyes off the clock on his desk. He and Tōshirō had curled up under the sheets a little under an hour into the storm, for Ichigo complained that he was cold, and only twenty minutes later Tōshirō had fallen asleep. Ichigo didn't mind, for he knew that the storm was going to take a while to pass, but he had ordered himself not to fall asleep so that once the storm had passed they could get outside straight away. If what Tōshirō had said was true, and Ichigo didn't doubt for a second that it wasn't, then he didn't want to waste a single second sitting around doing nothing when they could be looking for answers... before everything was destroyed.

Ichigo shook his boyfriend softly, wishing that he didn't have to wake him, and slowly Tōshirō's eyes fluttered open and he yawned, stretching out his body against Ichigo's taller. "The storm's passed," Ichigo said quietly. "Did you have a nice sleep?"

"Sleep? Oh... How long was I asleep for?"

"About seven hours."

Tōshirō tutted and sat up, Ichigo copying him. "Sorry," the ice wielder mumbled, and he looked out of the window to confirm Ichigo's statement. "I shouldn't have fallen asleep - I -"

"Relax," Ichigo said, kissing Tōshirō's forehead. "It's fine. Now shall we go outside?" _and see the damage._

Tōshirō nodded and in a flash the window was open and they were both standing on the blue-grey sideways skyscraper. Ichigo shut the window behind them and let Tōshirō get used to the oddness of his inner world. "Bloody hell Ichigo... everything's... _sideways_..."

"Hmmm..." Ichigo said in agreement, though he was already scanning the area for damage. "Says a lot about me doesn't it?"

Tōshirō snorted a laugh and followed Ichigo when he shunpoed to the top of the building.

"Whoa..." Ichigo said. 'Whoa' was right, Tōshirō thought, seeing how that most of the city was now covered in snow. The black and white clouds above them were still drifting ever so slowly but, thankfully, it had stopped snowing completely. However the storm had let more than just a blanket of snow, and Ichigo winced when he saw that some of the buildings had there windows smashed and broken and even some of the bricks had started to wear away. A couple of the skyscrapers in the, very far, distance, where the storm had begun, were even missing a few floors.

"Sorry," Tōshirō said, guilt resting itself on his small shoulders.

The ugly frown was back on Ichigo's face, but he turned to his partner in confusion. "Why are you apologising?"

"I feel like this is my fault," was the soft reply he got. "If I didn't have such a destructive inner world then -"

"Stop," Ichigo said firmly and teal eyes widened. "It's not your fault, and I don't blame you. Now stop saying sorry and help me find some answers, or even a way out of here."

Eyes still wide Tōshirō nodded and together they shunpoed away to explore. They didn't get very far, however, because after turning a corner they stopped and stared at the sight before them.

Snow wasn't the only factor of Tōshirō's inner world, and they both seemed to have forgotten that. Growing out of the side of one of the buildings was a grand oak tree, it's roots were clearly visible weaving their way in and out of the windows and along the side of the wall. It looked incredibly old, and incredibly out of place, and it was with caution that the two shinigami approached it, and they came to the obvious conclusion that the tree was a lot bigger than it looked.

"Wow," Ichigo said, placing his hand against the cold, frozen bark. "It's amazing. Despite the fact that it's wrecked a load of my memories."

"It's the only tree I have in my inner world," Tōshirō informed, gazing up at it's giant branches. "It sits right in the middle, and from it you can see the mountains in the distance to the right, and the lake to the left."

Ichigo blinked. "Did you just say _mountains_?"

And that, it seemed, was the magic word.

There was a deafening roar, and it was as if there was a gigantic dragon waking from it's slumber beneath their feet that the ground began to shake with the force to break the windows, knock the shinigami right off their feet, and cause the huge tree before them to quiver and shake. And then, without warning, the skyscraper to their right exploded open, and Ichigo's scream was drowned out as a colossal mound of earth rose up out of the great crack in the side of the building and grew towards them. Barely hesitating Ichigo grabbed Tōshirō's hand and forced him away from the rock and the glass and the brick that was falling around them, and the pile of earth just kept growing and growing until it hit the skyscraper they had been standing on and smashed right through it; the oak tree shuddered and clung on tighter, but still the earth did not stop and it grew larger and larger and larger until...

It became still. And everything was quiet again.

"Shit," Ichigo swore, breaking that deadly silence. "A motherfucking _mountain_ just _grew_ out of the side of that building!"

Tōshirō was too shocked to give him a sarcastic response, but Ichigo didn't seem to need one anyway for he continued to rant; "A mountain! Holy shit... What next? Is there going to be another blizzard? Or are we going to fall through some ice and drown in a lake? Or are we going to freeze to death? Or - "

He stopped when a small hand slipped into his own. "Tōshirō?"

"We've got to keep looking," said Tōshirō, locking eyes with Ichigo. "We can't give up. We - "

**(E)**Ichigo nodded. He squeezed Tōshirō's hand and gazed out into the distance, far beyond the newly formed mountain. "Lets go to the edge," he suggested. "Maybe there's something there."

"Right," Tōshirō said, nodding also. "We should look for Hyorinmaru and Zangetsu."

That seemed like a good idea to Ichigo, so he smiled down at Tōshirō and pulled him into a shunpo. They skimmed over the top of the snow-capped mountain, if only to kick the top in a teasing, victorious manner, and ducked under the old branches of the oak before heading off in one direction, that would surely, at some point, lead them to the edge. The edge of what, they weren't sure, for when did the mind ever have an edge? But if there was something there they were going to find it, and they were going to get the answers they wanted.

Or so they hoped.

"Ichigo," Tōshirō said after travelling in a fair amount of silence. He pulled his lover to a stop on one of the rooftops, and they stood at the edge letting the cool breeze whisper through their hair. Ichigo did not say anything but the genius knew his attention was on him. "What's down there?" he asked, pointing down off the edge of the building.

Ichigo stepped forward and leaned right over to get a look. "Absolutely no idea," he answered, for he couldn't see anything down there. It was just white, like most of the area. He leant back again and gazed over at the teal eyes watching him closely. "Why?"

Tōshirō looked thoughtful. "Do you think we should explore down there?"

At these words Ichigo's instincts went into haywire, as if the wolf had just spotted a rabbit, and trying to keep his voice level despite the screaming voice inside of him he said, "No."

It came out rougher than he wanted and Tōshirō actually looked quite shocked. Ichigo hoped he wasn't offended, and he bit his lip waiting for a reply.

"Ok," was what he got, quiet and accepting, and Tōshirō nodded his head a few times as if trying to convince himself something. "Ok. Let's move on."

Ichigo was relieved, but he frowned as they set off again. Why had his instincts told him that down there was not a place to go? Was it dangerous? Quickly glancing at the billowing haori in front of him he looked down, but still, he only sure white. White was snow, right? It wouldn't hurt him. Unless... there was something in the snow... He shook his head, deciding not to think about it. He wasn't going to go down there, and that was final.

They travelled for what seemed like forever, always heading in the same direction. Ichigo did not know if they would find and edge, but if they did, he had absolutely no idea what would be there. How could you, when your inner world just keeps going and going? However, using Tōshirō's logic, there must be some sort of edge, or end, if the two worlds hit each other to begin with - it was very unlikely that his own world just suddenly appeared into the plain of ice that was Tōshirō's. Ichigo looked over his shoulder at his city getting further and further away. Turns out that the body of Tōshirō's inner world was here too, and not just the storms and the mountains that liked to damage things. Ichigo grumbled something and looked forward again, just in time to jump out of the way so that he didn't collide into his boyfriend, who had stopped suddenly on the ice.

"Ichigo," Tōshirō breathed, and he indicated his head forwards. "Ichigo, look."

At first the teenager wasn't quite sure what he was looking for, but amongst the snow and the ice that lay here he could see a shape; a huge blueish shape that even from this far away looked bigger than the average house. "What is it?" he asked.

"I think - I think it's Hyorinmaru."

It was. Upon hearing those alarming words whispered from Tōshirō's lips Ichigo had shunpoed away and landed not a stone's throw away from the gigantic beast. He could now clearly see the that the rock like shape was the dragon's great icy body but he couldn't see it's head, for Hyorinmaru was curled in on himself, as if he were sleeping.

"Hyorinmaru," Tōshirō called, standing off to Ichigo's left. He was standing closer to the scaly body than Ichigo was, and he easily reached out and rested a small hand against the breathing ice. His voice was thick with tension and unease and Ichigo sucked in a worried breath when the giant dragon shifted on the plain they were standing on.

Tōshirō realized the part of the dragon he and Ichigo were standing by must be his back when Hyorinmaru's mighty head turned and shadowed over them, his bright red eyes piercing and wary. The dragon and it's master locked eyes for a moment, and it was only when the much larger of the two bowed it's towering head and let out a cold breath that Ichigo released his own.

"Hyorinmaru," Tōshirō repeated, relieved. "What's going on here? Are you ok?"

Hyorinmaru was silent, gazing at his master uncertainly. "Little one," he said after a pause, settling his head onto his curled body. "You should not be here."

"Why not?" Tōshirō asked immediately. "What's going on?"

"I do not know. But it is dangerous. Incorrect. Wrong. You should not be here. You must leave."

"How?" Ichigo asked, and he was now beside Tōshirō and watching the dragon with determination. "Tell us so we can get out of here."

Hyorinmaru growled, and Ichigo stepped back, slightly afraid. "If I knew how," the dragon said. "Do you not think I would have told my Master already?"

"Hyorinmaru," Tōshirō said firmly, his voice bordering on a shout. "What's _wrong_?"

The dragon growled again, this time quieter. "Nothing is wrong with me little one - "

"Do _not_ lie to me."

"I am _not lying, _Master. There is nothing wrong with me - I am just a part of this world, and everything that is wrong, is wrong with this world."

"Is Zangetsu a part of this world too?" Ichigo butted in, sensing a full blown argument on the horizon.

"I do not know where Zangetsu is," said the dragon, shifting his eyes from Tōshirō to Ichigo. "But if you have not found him yet then he is probably not here."

"Then where _is_ he?" continued Ichigo, frowning angrily.

Hyorinmaru elevated his head and bared his teeth, glistening white and dangerously sharp. "When a glass collides with another, they both crack and smash - shards fly off everywhere and nothing of the whole glass remains. Leave now; once a glass is cracked, with enough time and pressure, it will break."

And then he disappeared, fading into the landscape, as if he had never even been there.

* * *

"What do we do now?" Ichigo asked, two hours later. After Hyorinmaru had left them hanging they had returned to the city, no words being spoken between them on the journey, and silently decided to find a place to rest. Ichigo had led them to the nearest window and slipped inside after seeing that the memory inside was an old one, and one of a empty hotel room that he had once stayed in when his mother had been alive. During their talk to Hyorinmaru, the city had continued to be destroyed by parts of Tōshirō's inner world, and now countless mountains towered over the skyscrapers, big and small, and there was even a body of water on the sides of another building which Ichigo guessed to be a lake, but the side of the building had not been wide enough to hold it so now the freezing water poured endless over the edge. Yet there was still only one tree, and it was in the building it was growing out of that Ichigo and Tōshirō now lay.

Tōshirō sighed against Ichigo's chest, curled up on his side. "I don't know."

Ichigo hummed in response and continued to stroke Tōshirō's fine hair. "Hyorinmaru's words worried you, didn't they?"

"More so him disappearing like that," Tōshirō replied, sighing deeply once again. "It was almost like he didn't care."

"Now you know that's not true," Ichigo said, but he didn't know what else to say to comfort his anxious boyfriend. What could he say? He didn't know Hyorinmaru as well as the other did, but even he knew that his withdrawn behaviour was out of the ordinary. He sighed this time, and changed the subject. "Should we go out and explore again?"

"You want to look for Zangetsu?"

"Yeah..." he replied honestly, for he was more worried over the dragon's words than his actions. "I need to know if he's here."

"Alright," Tōshirō said, rolling over on the bed. "Shall we head out now?"

Ichigo sat up and stretched, wishing he could have slept like Tōshirō had done earlier. "If you don't mind."

Tōshirō was already half across the room when he replied, "Don't be stupid." And left it at that. As Ichigo scrambled over to him he wondered if that meant Tōshirō did mind, or didn't. Either way though, he followed Tōshirō out of the window and into the frozen land outside the warm comforts of The Oakley House Hotel master suite room. "Nasty," he mumbled, taking in sight of everything around him again as he stood. Tōshirō rolled his eyes and Ichigo chuckled, taking a step back and turning around, but he soon remembered the tree that was there and tripped over the bulky root by the window, landing flat on his back with an 'Ack!'

Tōshirō smirked. "Careful," he warned.

"Now you tell me," Ichigo grumbled, lifting himself up. His head hurt from the fall and the pounding in his ears partly deafened him. He looked over at Tōshirō, but a black figure over the boy's shoulder caught his eye. Eyes widening, he grabbed his head and shook it, trying to get his senses back for that fall must have surely knocked him silly if he was seeing -

"Zangetsu?"

"Huh?" Tōshirō asked. "I'm not Zangetsu."

"No, no, behind you."

Tōshirō spun around quickly and stared straight in the direction of the black blob in Ichigo's eyes. "Ichigo... there's nothing there."

_No, no, no! He's right there! Can't you see him?_

_Tōshirō wouldn't lie! You're going mad Ichigo, _another part of his brain argued, _you're seeing things._

_Oh don't listen to that voice, _snapped the first, _and trust your eyes! Zangetsu's Zangetsu, right?_

But even that voice sounded like he was questioning it, and Ichigo shut them out, stepping forward (careful to avoid the root), intending to go and check for himself. He walked as far as Tōshirō before he was stopped, by said male, holding out his arm and glancing at him worriedly. "Ichigo," he said. "There's no one there."

"Let me past Tōshirō and I'll go see for myself."

"But - "

"Please? If I'm going mad I want to make sure Zangetsu's really not over there."

"But Ichigo, he's really not - "

Ichigo silenced him with a look, almost a glare, and he winced, sighing. He dropped his arm in defeat and looked away. "Fine," he said, venom dripping on his words. "Go if you don't believe me."

"It's not that I don't - "

He shut his mouth upon seeing Tōshirō's glare, far stronger than his own had been. Swearing to apologise to Tōshirō when he got back he shunpoed away to the next building in a flash, the pounding in his ears still drowning out any other thoughts than the man in front of him.

Then there was another rumble, much like the one before when the mountain had been created, and Tōshirō braced himself and Ichigo paled, ready for whatever was about to grow out of the side of the buildings nearby. Yet this rumble was different, not that either of them realized it, and the snow whipped up around their feet in a dance as the solid roof top beneath Ichigo's feet gave out. His mouth opened in a scream as the whole ground around him shook and he reached out desperately for something - anything - to grab onto to stop him from falling: wall, tree, mountain, _Zangetsu_...

He had just enough time to think, 'Where's Zangetsu gone?', and enough time to see Tōshirō screaming his name, diving forward to try and catch him before he fell... fell down... down into the nothingness.

Tōshirō slammed onto his knees beside the hole where Ichigo had fallen, his hands shaking violently, and time seemed to stand still for him as the black piece of fabric in his grip reminded him of what had just happened - how he had _missed_. He stared at the white nothingness below the city, his mouth wide open and his eyes fearful, disbelieving... And yet no matter how much he wanted it to, Ichigo did not appear... He couldn't, for he had fallen... And he wasn't going to be able to get back up again for down _there_... wherever there is, is nothing, absolute nothing... And Tōshirō shook his head and screamed.

"**ICHIGO!**"

And the only reply he got was the crumple of the snow as he collapsed onto his side cried.

And, of course, when someone dies, they don't need their inner world any more, for their inner world cannot exist without them. Hitsugaya Tōshirō was too busy sobbing to remember this, and so he was utterly oblivious to the clouds fading away into the sky, and the sky losing it's bright blue colour and turning white, like the snow that had fallen from it, and he never saw the newly formed mountains begin to crumble away, or the lake dry up instantly, or the old oak tree wither and die and shrivel away into the broken building that began to crack and decay and disappear like something in a game into the blank sky above, and he didn't feel the snow around him melt or fall when the wall broke apart until it was too late... all too late...

But, of course, by then he didn't care any more, and so he fell like the broken, shattered angel that he was, unable to open his fading wings, and he fell, like his lover, right down into the white of nothingness.

* * *

When you lose someone you love, you die too, and you wait around for your body to catch up.  
~John Scalzi

* * *

**Hope this was better, I'm much happier with it. Oh, and did anybody notice the little reference to one of my other stories in there? *wink wink***


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